A few weeks ago, the Västerbotten Region sent out letters to around 28,000 county residents who had not yet been vaccinated against covid-19, with a request to book a vaccination appointment.
A Skellefteå resident believes that this targeted mailing is a breach of confidentiality, as the outside of the letter reveals the content.
"Now at least the postman knows that I have not been vaccinated, as well as everyone who has gone and looked in my mailbox," writes Skellefteåbon in his report to the Ombudsman.
"Good that it is tried"
Ronny Lestander, vaccine coordinator in the Västerbotten Region, says that a handful of people have heard from him and accused the region of breaches of confidentiality or breaches of the GDPR through the letters sent.
- It is good that it is being tried and it will be exciting to see what JO comes to.
We have consulted with lawyers at SKR before we did this and most of the regions have done just as we have done before, says Ronny Lestander.
Could you have revealed that someone is unvaccinated through this mailing?
- It is an official letter from Region Västerbotten, it does not say on the letter that you are not vaccinated.
So I have a hard time seeing where to go with this, says Ronny Lestander.
Several regions are notified
Skellefteåbon is not alone in reporting its home region to JO for this type of letter.
A compilation of the news agency Siren shows that the regions of Östergötland, Blekinge, Örebro and Värmland have also been notified.
However, other complainants have had other types of objections, such as the fact that the data collection is contrary to the GDPR.